Nolan Picks A Joker

We’ve heard a lot of Joker casting rumors over the past few months, but it’s safe to say that this guy wasn’t really on any fan’s short list of who they’d like to play him. The guys over at The Latino Review are reporting that Heath Ledger has been cast to play the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming sequel to Batman Begins.

By now, we’ve seen so many later debunked rumors about Batman Begins, that anything on the project is reader beware. But Latino Review is a fairly reliable source, it’s not like this is being reported by some horrible. self-serving blog. They’re a legitimate, responsible movie site.

I have a hard time picturing the star of A Knight’s Tale playing the Joker. Heath Ledger has always struck me as a bit of a stiff. He’s the straight man, even in Brokeback Mountain where he played it serious opposite Jake Gyllenhaal’s somewhat more excitable character. Ledger seems spectacularly unsuited to the weirdness of the Joker. If you’re casting Ledger in a Batman movie, I’d start by considering him for Robin, not the caped crusader’s most lunatic villain.

The Joker role has had dozens of different names rumored to be in consideration for it. Everyone from Robin Williams to Mark Hamill has at one point or another been linked to the part. If Heath has it, it’s something of a shock.